Rock Crab Recipes

Rock Crab is a delicious treat that we can always count on when Dungeness isn't in season. We like to think of our local Rock Crab as the Western cousin of the famous Florida Stone Crabs! They have big meaty claws and rock-hard exteriors to protect their sweet centers. Note that there is a a hard membrane inside the claw, so when eating, pull or scrape the meat off of this, we just eat around it like in King Crab.

This video will help explain how to crack your crab claws - these aren't pacific rock crabs in the video, but they are close enough! We linked it to start midway through so you don't have to learn about getting the body meat.

Lolipop Claws and Cracking your Rock Crab

Ingredients

Directions

Refer to the video at the top of the pageif you have a hard time with this step

Separate the claw from the rest of the arm

One at a time, put the arm sections on a cutting board use the nut cracker to break the shells open. Be sure to be gently, if you squeeze too hard you will end up with a lot of shell in your meat! If you are using a mallet, then cover the arm section with a towel and proceed to use a mallet to gently break the shell.

Set the shells aside in one bowl, and the meat in the other bowl.

Repeat step two with the claw sections being careful to gently remove the shell around the claw, leaving a small portion of claw on the meatless tip to use as a cocktail “lollipop” claw.

If you would rather use the claw meat for a salad or crab cake, then take your cocktail fork and “shred” the meat off the claw section being sure to avoid the membrane in the middle of the claw.

Difficulty:

2/5 - Easy

Prep Time:

20 Minutes

Cook Time:

0 Minutes

Two Amazing Dipping Sauces

Ingredients

Clarified Butter with Garlic and Chiles

1 Clove Garlic - Crushed

1 Small fresh red Thai chile pepper - sliced in half vertically

8 Tablespoons of unsalted butter

Diablo Sauce (Spicy)

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter

6 Cloves of Garlic - roughly chopped

1 Serrano Chile - Stemmed, Seeded, and Roughly Chopped

1/2 Small Yellow Onion, Roughly Chopped

2 Teaspoons Packed Brown Sugar

1 Teaspoon Smoked Paprika

1 (16 oz) Can of Crushed Tomatoes

Kosher Salt and Freshly Ground

1 Tablespoon Fresh Lemon Juice

1 Tablespoon Dark Red Chile Powder

Direction

* While different dipping sauces are amazing, we highly suggest dunking these claws in some simple clarified butter and enjoying their rich natural taste before dipping into one of the sauces below.

Clarified Butter with Garlic and Chiles

Heat garlic and chiles in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant and lightly toasted, about 2 minutes; transfer to a bowl. Reduce heat to medium and add butter. Cook until butter is completely melted - about 3 minutes. Skim and discard film from surface. Pour the clarified butter from the pan over garlic and chiles, leaving the milky sediment behind. Keep butter warm and let sit for at least 10 minutes before serving!

Chive Emulsion

Combine chives, canola oil, and olive oil in a blender; purée until very smooth. Pour through a cheesecloth or similar fine separating strainer and set aside. Whisk lemon juice, Dijon mustard egg yolks, salt, and freshly ground pepper in a bowl until smooth. While whisking constantly, slowly drizzle in chive oil until sauce is emulsified.

Difficulty:

1/5 - Easy

Prep Time:

10 Minutes

Cook Time:

10 Minutes

Pascale’s Rock Crab Salad w/ Shaved Fennel & Avo Vinaigrette

Ingredients

For the Crab

1 Lbs Rock Crab Arms

1/2 Tablespoon of fresh chopped chives

1/2 Lemon cut into 4 wedges

For the Fennel Salad

1 Fennel bulb, cut in half lengthwise and very thinly sliced

Zest of 1/2 lemon

1/2 Tablespoon of fresh dill, finely chopped

1/2 small green apple, cored and very thinly sliced

Kosher salt

For the Vinaigrette

2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil

1/2 Tablespoon of Apple Cider Vinegar or Champagne Vinegar

1/2 Avocado, peeled w/ meat scooped out

1/2 Tablespoon lemon juice

Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

1/2 Tablespoon freshly chopped parsley

Directions

* Refer to our cracking recipe to prepare the crab for this recipe.

Crack and set aside all the meat from your crab arms

Pour the olive oil into a small bowl and whisk in the vinegar. Add in the avocado meat and mash together with a fork. Add in the lemon juice, salt and pepper and whisk with the fork until well combined. Add more oil if needed to achieve the right consistency.

Place the ingredients for the fennel salad (fennel, lemon zest, fresh dill, and green apple) in a medium-sized bowl and toss with the vinaigrette. Serve as soon as the salad is tossed.

To serve, place a spoonful of the fennel salad and avocado vinaigrette in the center of each plate, and then place the crab meat on top. Add a little coarse sea salt and pepper, a sprinkling of freshly chopped chives, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and serve immediately.

This recipe from Pascale Beale appeared in Edible Santa Barbara’s Spring 2012 issue in the article The Fisherman’s Market. Thank you to Edible Magazine for always focusing on sustainable, local, and delicious producers all around the state and beyond!

Difficulty:

2/5 - Easy

Prep Time:

25 Minutes

Cook Time:

0 Minutes

Crab Spaghetti with Lemon Gremolata

Ingredients

Crab Spaghetti

Fresh Rock Crab Meat, Shells Removed

8 Ounces of Dried Spaghetti

3 Tablespoons of Unsalted Butter

1 1/2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil

1 Clove of Garlic - Minced

1/3 Cup Dry White Wine, Plus 2 Tablespoons

1 Lemon - Juiced

1/2 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes

1 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

Kosher Salt

Lemon and Garlic Gremolata

2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter

2 Cups Fresh Sourdough Bread Crumbs

1/2 Teaspoon Kosher Salt

1 Clove of Garlic, Minced

2 Tablespoons Parsley, Chopped

2 Tablespoons Lemon Zest (about 1 medium lemon)

Directions

In large pan over medium high heat melt butter in olive oil. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds, stirring constantly, until fragrant. Add white wine, lemon juice and red pepper flakes. Bring to boil and reduce to simmer and cook for 8 minutes. Add crab meat and hot spaghetti and stir to mix well. Add ½ cup of Parmesan and kosher salt; toss. Add ¼ cup of reserved cooking liquid at a time if the pasta needs more liquid. Top with Lemon and Garlic Gremolata and more Parmesan cheese and serve.

For lemon and garlic gremolata

In medium fry pan, melt butter over medium high heat. Add bread crumbs and kosher salt. Stir to combine in butter. Toast bread crumbs for about 3-5 minutes, stirring occassionally. Be careful so crumbs don’t burn. Remove hot bread crumbs from heat and add in garlic, parsley and lemon zest. Stir to combine and add to top of Crab Spaghetti.

Difficulty:

3/5 - Somewhat Challenging

Prep Time:

15 Minutes

Cook Time:

10 Minutes

World Famous Crab Louie Salad

Dressing

1/2 Cup Mayonnaise

1 1/2 Tablespoons Ketchup

1/2 Tablespoon sweet pickle relish

1/2 Tablespoon Fresh Lemon juice

1/2 Garlic clove - minced

1/2 Teaspoon Tabasco sauce

1/4 Teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

2 Dashes of sweet smoked paprika

2 Dashes of chili powder

Kosher Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Salad

1/3 Pound of Asparagus

16 Ounces romaine heart - cut crosswise 1/2 inch thick

1 Six ounce seedless cucumber - thinly sliced or cut into spears

2 Medium tomatoes - cut into wedges (optional)

2 Hard-cooked eggs - cut into wedges

2 Radishes - thinly sliced

Crab meat (~.5lbs)

* This is usually prepared with Dungeness crab, we actually prefer to use Rock Crab - it seems to hold together better, yielding meatier chunks of crab through the whole salad!

In a bowl, whisk the mayonnaise with the ketchup, relish, lemon juice, garlic, Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, and chili powder. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes.

In a medium saucepan of boiling salted water, cook the asparagus until just tender ~ 3 minutes. Drain and cool.

Arrange the romaine, cucumber, radishes, tomatoes, eggs and asparagus on a platter. Top with large chunks of the crabmeat and serve, passing the dressing at the table.